All posts tagged apple

It may seem odd on the face of it for Apple to want to partner up with Yahoo to get more of the latter’s products on the former’s phone. After all, its recent stock slide notwithstanding, Apple is still the coolest kid on the block, and the most profitable, while Yahoo is, well, Yahoo isn’t either. But in the tightly intertwined world of competition and cooperation that is Silicon Valley, these two working together isn’t so odd. It’s all about the “coopetition.”

It’s still just something the two companies are discussing, but the idea is this: Yahoo gets its services and products onto mobile phones and tablets, and Apple gets a services provider that isn’t named Google. Plus, the two don’t really compete that directly in their products and offerings, making for an easier mesh between the two. Spencer Ante stopped by the Markets Hub this morning to break down the possible deal.

Apple, meanwhile, has been looking to partner with companies to help reduce its reliance on Google’s mobile services. Apple’s desire to extract itself from Google runs deep. Apple, which last year ended partnerships with Google over maps and video, has explored breaking up on search for many years and its representatives recently met with companies that have search expertise, people familiar with the matter said.

Analyst Bill Shope is taking a half-step back from his “conviction buy” call, which he has had since December 2010 — but he isn’t moving to the sidelines. He says that the stock could miss Wall Street expectations for both its March and June quarters, but downgrades to buy rather than moving to the sidelines with a neutral rating.

The most recent product cycle has not driven the market share and new user growth that the firm had anticipated for Apple, Shope said.

Today, the S&P 500 is poised set its all-time closing high despite the bad apple.

The bad apple, in this case, is Apple Inc., the tech behemoth whose shares have been tanking since September. When the Dow Jones Industrial was first striking its record highs in early March, the gap between the two majors could be boiled down to the one stock, as we wrote back then:

Since the Cupertino juggernaut hit its record high of $702 on Sept. 19, it’s been nothing but downhill for the stock, off about 39% since then. For the S&P 500, since Sept. 19 through today’s close, the index was up 5.4%. Putting it at 1540. But, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, if Apple was excluded from the index, it would be up 7.7% in that time frame – putting it at roughly 1573.

Stocks finished an up-and-down week basically flat, but Cyprus worries sent the market’s fear gauge, the VIX, up about 20% for the week. European worries are back and volatility is coming back. Research In Motion? The jury’s out on its comeback attempt.

Friday’s selloff has picked up steam on heavy trading volume amid reports that the U.S. launch is failing to generate the buzz that is typically associated with major launch events.

What’s problematic, WSJ reports, is AT&T Inc. doesn’t appear to be highlighting the new phone, the Z10, or giving it prominent shelf space at its stores. The phone will go on sale in Verizon stores next week.

“You walk into an AT&T store and there’s no special announcement and there’s not a lot of fanfare,” Colin Gillis, tech analyst at BGC Partners, said in a chat with MarketBeat. “That’s an issue the company is facing.”

The new BlackBerry Z10 began selling in the U.S. Friday at AT&T stores.

Research In Motion’s new BlackBerry isn’t doing much for the company’s stock price.

Today, that is.

Shares are having a “meh” reaction to the U.S. launch of the Z10 smartphone. The stock opened up more than 4% but has since lost much of that steam. Of course, Friday’s performance comes after the stock price has more than doubled since September amid growing hope that this launch will help the company will reverse its longstanding decline in the crowded smartphone market.

Salesforce.com Inc. last night announced a four-for-one stock split, a move that will create more shares outstanding for the Web-based business-software company, each at a lower price. The decision, which comes as the overall market continues to hover around record highs and companies are flush with cash, prompted at least one analyst to wonder whether Salesforce will kick off a fresh wave of stock splits for S&P 500 companies not seen since the 1990s.

“Companies are more comfortable with higher priced stocks then they historically were,” says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “If prices continue up (or at least hold their ground), I would expect an increase in splits as some boards continue to keep their stock in an investor friendly price range.”

It took six months, but Apple Inc.’s downtrend appears to have finally run its course.

While Wall Street may have been focused on the broad market’s reaction to news about the banking-deposit levy in Cyprus, Apple quietly tested, then aggressively broke through, a widely watched downtrend line that began at the Sept. 21 all-time intraday high of $705.07. It was the first time Apple had cracked the trend line since it was initiated, and the stock’s behavior around that trendline on very short-term charts on Monday helps confirm its longer-term importance.

The line, which has tracked Apple’s intermittent rally peaks since the stock started selling off last fall, had extended to just below the $448 level on the daily charts Monday.

“Irrespective of anything about Apple, the company, the breaking of the downtrend of the stock’s share price signals a change in market demand for the company’s stock,” said Tom McClellan, editor of The McClellan Market Report.

That trendline, starting at the Sept 21 all-time intraday high of $705.07, extends today to around $449.50-$450. As long as the stock remains below line, the chart pattern suggests Apple isn’t likely to post a sustained move higher.

However, McClellan thinks breaking through that line could lead to a “huge recognition wave” of buying: “Every Apple trader with access to charting capability can see that downtrend line, and would be able to see it getting broken,” McClellan said.

With Samsung going heavy on the launch of the Galaxy IV today, aiming right at the beating heart of the suddenly defensive boys from Cupertino, Apple Inc. could use a buddy. The stock, which crested over $700 back in September, is down to about $430 amid a relentless pounding.

BTIG’s Walter Piecyk stepped into that breech, and upgraded the stock this morning to buy, slapping a $540 price target on it. Basically, Piecyk still believes in the company’s potential to make magical and revolutionary products.

The list of Apple’s troubles is well known, Piecyk notes: consensus beats aren’t a given anymore; Samsung’s got that splashy launch party today, management can’t make up its mind about what to do with the cash hoard ($137 billion and growing), consensus EPS estimates for the current fiscal year are dropping and growth looks minimal.

Apple’ Inc. shares suddenly spiked this afternoon, and they’ve stayed higher during the final half hour of trading.

The spike, which didn’t appear to follow any substantial news, was notable in that it pushed the company’s shares more than $10 higher, amid dramatically increased trading volume.

In a chat with MarketBeat, Scott Redler, chief strategic officer at T3Live.com, said the move appears to be based more on technicals as opposed to fundamentals. Redler also said the $435-to-$437 range for the stock is a key level chart watchers are following. A close above that range would be a positive short-term sign.

Shares of companies other than Apple are seeing getting a reboot in 2013

Investors are betting it is time for some downtrodden technology stocks to get a reboot.

Some of last year’s beaten-down hardware and software companies are getting another look from investors, after spending much of the past year in the shadow of growth tech stocks, including Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc.

Some say that so-called “value” technology companies now trade at attractive valuations. Others point out the companies’ healthy cash flows.

Looking ahead, investors see room for additional growth in these companies as they also innovate alongside “growth”-oriented technology companies in areas such as cloud computing, in which businesses outsource their computing muscle to a third party.

About MarketBeat

MarketBeat looks under the hood of Wall Street each day, finding market-moving news, analyzing trends and highlighting noteworthy commentary from the best blogs and research. MarketBeat is updated frequently throughout the day, helping investors stay on top of what’s happening in the markets. Lead writers Paul Vigna and Steven Russolillo spearhead the MarketBeat team, with contributions from other Journal reporters and editors. Have a comment? Write to paul.vigna@wsj.com or steven.russolillo@wsj.com.